By Matthew Willis

Photo by Matthew Willis

By the end of this week, the MOA galleries will have three new additions: two new totem poles - one by Mungo Martin (Kwakwaka’wakw) and another by Joe David (Nuu-chah-nulth) - will be raised in the Great Hall, and a pair of carvings by Eric Robertson (Metis/Gitxsan) will be placed at the entrance to the Multiversity Galleries opposite The Raven.  Conservator Heidi Swierenga spoke to me about the poles and the process of raising them. ”It’s like watching the poles fly around the room,” she says. If you have the chance, come on down and watch the spectacle!

Heidi gave me a good history of the poles when I talked with her. Martin’s was most in need of restoration, as it had had 60 years of outside erosion and was carved before the preservation technology we have today was developed. A lack of water caps, animal infestation, and a broken beak on the top of the pole, signaled that it was time to be taken down. I was told that poles rot from the top down, with most of the heartwood being the first thing to decompose, and because there was such a large section at the top of the pole, it was lucky more damage wasn’t seen in this aging carving.

Meanwhile, the pole by Joe David was in excellent condition. It once stood as a Welcome Figure outside MOA, but was removed when it was agreed that the exterior of MOA should have a consistently Musqueam presence, since Museum is located on traditional Musqueam land. It had been taken down and stored a few years before MOA closed for renovations about 4 years ago. The figure will now find a place amongst the other totems in the Great Hall.

Robertson chose wood for his carvings that was very green and thus cracked easily as it aged. They were taken down five years ago after seams burst and the original wax coating had been stripped away by the curious hands of visitors. What Robertson has done now is recoat the piece in urethane, which gives it a safer and sleeker appearance, and still allows it to be touchable. (Hear that Museum visitors? More touchables!)

Each piece that’s being installed has received cleaning and restoration work. Martin’s has had the beak re-attached via a carefully placed steel joint inserted into the centre of the pole, so not to challenge its integrity both structurally and artistically. Heidi and curator Bill McLennan had discussions with people who know Martin’s work, and who advised them on how the pole should look when raised. Rather than cleaning it so it looked like it was brand new, the choice was made to visibly maintain the appearance that the pole had a life outside for a long period of time.  David’s pole, because it was in good condition to begin with, received a regular surface cleaning and nothing new was done to it. MOA was lucky to have Robertson come and do the restoration on his piece himself: this allowed the artist to be perhaps more liberal with the work than conservators and museums normally would be.

When MOA opened in 1976, there was a ceremony for all the poles that were raised in the Great Hall at that time. What about these new poles? There will be no ceremony this week for their raising, but one will be arranged for later in the year. Heidi shared an interesting anecdote about the raising: the people who raised the poles in 1976, Pro Tech Industrial Movers, are the same people who are doing the raising this week. One of the workers apparently found a penny he placed on one of the poles 36 years ago and was delighted to find it again.

To share in this unique experience, the movers will be working throughout the week in the Great Hall where they can be observed from a safe distance. Their lifts and rigging equipment are a sight to see – just be careful not to whistle around them. In the European Age of Sail, sailors communicated to each other via whistles, and if an absent-minded person hit  a high note nearby, it might be mistaken for a signal and who knows what disastrous things might have happened!

Photo by Heidi Swierenga